Ace of Spades
by Pugzilla
Summary: Being born into the magic circle is tough. You have a lot to live up to. But when you have a dead relative following you in your dreams, telling you to assassinate a complete stranger... No one can say their life is hard to your face. Lets just hope your mom Hecate will keep things straight.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! For all those who are actually reading this, this is my first fanfiction so it might not be the best work I will do.**

 **I would like to thank my friend, Storm-Eyes-Osprey for helping me out and doing the cover. You rock, Storm! (By the way, check her stuff out if you haven't seen it already.)**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own the universe or characters from the original Percy Jackson series.**

 _Uuuuurrrrggghh… where am I?_

" _Mom?" I shout almost in an angry tone; my pyjamas are soaking…_

 _Wait. I'm not wearing pyjamas. Why am I wearing clothes?_

 _What the hell is this place?_

 _I take a deep breath, stand up, and observe my surroundings. The place is shrouded in a darkness so deep, it's almost deafening, like I can hear it. My head feels fuzzier than usual, that's for sure. My face is covered in a cold layer of sweat, as if I woke up from a nightmare…_

 _Or am I in the nightmare..._

 _Suddenly, two glowing dots penetrate the darkness, causing me to squint in order to focus. Jeez, that light is blinding! Am I outside? Mom must be starting the car. But why? There's no street lamps on either. While attempting to figure out my location, the lights gradually move towards me._

" _Who's there?" I cry out. Well that totally sounded manly. Nice one, Ben._

 _The lights grow closer and closer. They're not lights. They're eyes. Attached to a hideous, disfigured body. As I am frozen in fear, the creature starts towering over me like a predator… that found its prey. I try to scream, speak, just say something – but I can't. I can't do anything._

 _It seemed to be roughly wrapped in bandages, but what could be seen of his body was enough to make a grown man cry. Hanging pieces of rotting, burned flesh hung on to it, exposing bone in some places. The rancid smell of decomposition makes me try to gag, but even that is impossible for me to achieve. Glowing yellow slits stare down at me, filled with hatred and anger. All of a sudden, a thin, twig-like arm extends to show a letter in its hand. Cautiously, I reach out to take the flimsy envelope from the creatures grasp. Touching my fingers to the paper, the creature slowly lets go, as if it had been holding the letter for so long, its extremities on its hand had seized into place._

" _Is this for me? Or do you want me to send it or something…" I ask._

 _Silence. Of course. Taking that as an invitation to open the letter, I reach around and tear open the envelope. It comes off easily, almost soft to the touch. Classy, extravagant handwriting is scrawled across paper, almost too crazy to read. Whatever it is, it must be important. Dyslexia doesn't help, either, but this needs to be read. Here goes:_

 _ **Benjamin Farrow,**_

 _ **The Fields of Punishment is a horrible place, filled with pain, fear and torture. If you value your life, and your afterlife, then obey my commands.**_

 _ **One does not simply escape the Underworld with bribery or blackmail. It takes lots of skill, practice, and a genius mind to get out with what I can say is ease. You Benjamin, are far from exceeding my level of power. However, this does not mean I can't teach you. You are young, but have a mind like no other. If you want to escape eternal pain, then do as I say. I do not wish to be spending the rest of eternity in Hades' disgusting prison, and neither do you, I would assume. My one request, is for you to find a replacement for me to go to the Underworld, so I can exist peacefully among the other spirits – or terrorize those who ridiculed my fine work in the magic circle. If you do not succeed, then you shall take my place as a prisoner, lost in the Underworld, suffering from excruciating pain and terror.**_

 _ **I shall follow you in your dreams until I find someone I think is an acceptable replacement. If you do not follow my orders, then I will personally visit you and murder you. Between now and then, I will teach you useful ways of trickery, illusion and deadly traps to assist you in defeating your opponent. Hopefully, this will make my existence here significantly easier. No need to get my hands dirty.**_

 _ **Best of luck to you,**_

 _ **Sir Ennis Farrow**_

 _A few seconds pass by as I take it all in. Hades? Fields of Punishment? Murder?_

" _Are you Ennis?" I ask, confused with who this thing is. Is he just a messenger, or the man who wants to kill me?_

 _It sighs, in a way that sounds like exasperation. Of course it was Ennis. Oh man, why do I have to be stuck with a murderer? Suddenly, I remember something. His full name._

 _Ennis Farrow._

 _He's a RELATIVE? I have a murderous relative, who's dead, right here in front of me! Who has he killed, his family, his wife? No, I wouldn't exist. While I am trying to calm myself down, Ennis holds up a quill and another piece of paper. I take it with caution. It reads:_

 _ **Care to assist me?**_

 _ **Signature:_**_

 _His eyes burn through me as I consider my chances. If I don't sign this, I will be sent to an eternity of pain, if I do sign this, I may have to kill someone innocent, or even worse, someone I love. However, they may be someone evil, like a terrorist, or a kidnapper. I sign the note._

 _Ennis disappears in a puff of smoke._


	2. Chapter 2

For the first time in years, I woke up without the alarm going off. It would be the first of many.

With a jolt of adrenalin, I sat up in my bed, smashing my head against the top bunk in the process. If the dream didn't wake me up fully, the pain sure did. I cried out in frustration, piercing the thick silence. I aggressively rubbed my head, which was already forming a bump, and leaned over to my bedside table and blindly searched for my phone.

 _Hmmm… Cards, magic stuff… ah, phone!_

I braced myself for blinding light as I hit the power button. After my eyes adjusted, I checked the numbers presented on the screen. It was three forty. You know that point when you struggle to make up your mind whether it's easier for you to go to sleep, or just power through it? Yeah, it was that time for me. Since I wasn't good at sleeping anyway, I got up and got dressed. Usually, I would just mess around, play cards, or practice tricks, but my geography assignment was still incomplete, and on the day it was due. But seriously, who really wants to know about 'The increasing population of naked mole rats in East Africa'? No one is the answer.

While I was quietly creeping towards the stairs, I started to remember the horrible nightmare that unfolded during the night. Was it real? It felt real, it looked real… And it most certainly smelled real. That dude was gross. Like, really gross.

Unaware that I had made it down the entire staircase, I attempted to walk down a non-existent step. This resulted in me creating a loud 'thud!' as my bare foot hit the wooden floor with an unnecessary (and painful) amount of force. I swore under my breath, and proceeded to walk towards the kitchen with a stupid limp, desperate for energy. I know I shouldn't like coffee, but it was either that, or one of the other kids' disgusting energy drinks, which we kept hidden in the cupboard between the refrigerator and the oven. That way Jennie nor Karl would find the forbidden beverages. While my coffee was brewing, I half tiptoed half hobbled to my school bag, and grabbed my geography paper. I had written over two thousand words already on the damn mole rats, and it still wasn't good enough for Mr Spratt. I hated that loser. He would always say that I was going to fail at life, due to my lack of decent parents and my dyslexia - I'll show him.

I sat in the study on the rickety old desk that Karl had in college, and couldn't bear to get rid of, and stared at the paper.

 _Maybe if I stare at it for long enough, it will write itself…_

I sat there, just looking at it, and taking sips of the black coffee. Ideas sprouted in my head as the caffeine kicked in. By the time I had finished two mugs of insanely strong coffee, I only had one sentence left. I took a quick glance at my phone, and nearly did a double take – only quarter to five? I had recently been getting better at writing more fluently, mostly due to the fact I have been gradually getting faster at arguing with people over the internet over serious (and some ridiculous) topics. That was probably why I flew through it. I finished of my assignment with what I thought was a great conclusion, and sent it to the old, crappy printer.

With my schoolwork done, I reached over to one of the shelves near the desk, and grabbed a pack of cards wedged between the books. I knew Karl hated them lying about the house, and so did the other kids here, but it was my hobby, and they couldn't stop me from chasing my dream: to join the magic circle, and work alongside genius magicians like my father.

Daniel Farrow, known in the media as AC3, was forced to give me away to social services when his career boomed, which meant he couldn't look after me. And apparently when my mom left. I still meet him, and when he visits me, we don't stay long in the house. One, because Jenny and Karl despise him (*cough*jealous*cough*), two, because he's always taking me out to eat in a restaurant, and three, because he teaches my some of his magic tricks in private, so no one else can steal the stunts he relies on to keep him rich. I personally think he's awesome, and that the stuff he teaches me looks like real magic. He says that he learnt it all from my mom, who left me when I was a baby. There are no photographs of her, but I keep dreaming about her arriving in the middle of the night, beeping the horn and calling my name. I sighed.

 _Nothing is going to go your way, Benjamin._

"What are you doing?" grumbled a voice from the doorway. I swiftly turned my head to see a very tired and grouchy Karl, standing in his old college T shirt (which was insanely small) and checked pyjama trousers. One of his fingers was pointed at something on the desk – something he clearly wasn't impressed with.

I slowly turned my head to see a great model of a house, entirely made out of cards. I didn't remember making anything so huge, I only made a basic pyramid!

"Uh… I don't know." I muttered awkwardly, all the while I was trying to figure out what exactly just happened. I braced myself for criticism, something harsh and offensive coming out of Karl's mouth. But there was nothing. He just stood there, almost amazed at the model before his eyes. I quietly waited for a reaction. He finally snapped out of his hypnosis spell, and immediately squashed his face into a frown.

"What have I told you about the goddamn cards? Give them to me. NOW." He raised his voice at the very end, causing me to flinch a little. I thought about how easy it is to buy a pack, and how many I currently have, so I just smirked and gathered them up. He took them in his hand, and clenched it into a fist, crushing the cards in front of my eyes. I knew this was all purposeful, to make me feel broken inside a little bit more each time he did it. I was immune to all this now, so I looked straight into his eyes with no emotion on my face. This made him angrier, so I decided against making a smart comment. I waited for him to leave me alone, staring at him with a look of impatience. Finally, he trudged back up the stairs, muttering under his breath insults and curses, which were all obviously directed at me. Suddenly, my phone buzzed, indicating it was time for me to get up and go to school. Most of the stuff I had done, like getting changed and coffee was done, so I just gathered up all my papers, shoved them in my bag, and sat down on the ugly couch to watch TV.

 _Maybe I'll Get lucky, and the little gremlins won't wake up anytime soon to steal the remote. You'll need a lot of luck today Ben._

 _You really will._


End file.
